


Sun Spirit Zuko - Awakening

by venomous_syfy



Series: Sun Spirit Zuko (Original AU) [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Original, Azula (Avatar) has a heart, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Sun Spirit Zuko (Avatar), Sympathetic Azula (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) Needs a Hug, Zuko (Avatar)-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:47:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25683778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/venomous_syfy/pseuds/venomous_syfy
Summary: A month has gone by. Azula's more than ready to go home. Zuko can't fathom how long has passed.Iroh and Ursa just want everything to return to normal and be okay again.
Relationships: Azula & Iroh (Avatar), Azula & Mai (Avatar), Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Iroh & Ursa (Avatar), Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Zuko & Ursa (Avatar)
Series: Sun Spirit Zuko (Original AU) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1837651
Comments: 5
Kudos: 243





	Sun Spirit Zuko - Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> Part two of a series. Will not be an entire fanfic. Please do not do anything with this concept unless you change a lot- this is my own au and I will be writing and drawing things for it.  
> Sorry for no art this time around, I got tired.

Nearly a month had passed. Azula had been with Mai for the entire time, but had heard many rumors about what was going on back in her palace. Her  _ home _ . She was worried, but she refused to show it or admit it. It’s not like she cared about Zuko or anything! He was a terrible prodigy and heir to the throne, he had no reason to be more cared about than her! But… okay, she cared about him. A  _ lot. _ She refused to tell Mai or Mai’s parents what was really going on and why they were being forced to host the princess for so long. 

The stay ended rather abruptly when a worried-looking Iroh appeared at Mai’s house one day out of the blue. Mai’s father quickly allowed him inside and offered him a cup of tea, to which he surprisingly refused. Azula wasn’t alerted of her Uncle’s arrival… at first.

\-------------------------------------

Iroh gently knocked on the door to Mai’s house. He had only returned to the Fire Nation earlier in the day and was greeted by a wildly stressed out Ursa, who gave him a quick hello and small explanation of what had happened while he was gone, though she conveniently left out the fact that Zuko had died. She politely had requested he go to retrieve Azula, to which he obliged. So, there he was, being offered a cup of tea by a friend of the royal family. 

“I’m alright, but thank you,” Iroh said kindly, earning a nod from Mai’s father. “I’m just here to retrieve my niece, and then the both of us will be out of your hair.” Ukano looked relieved, smiled tiredly and nodded. 

“Of course, General Iroh,” He said. “Would you like me to tell Azula first so she can get ready? Or would you like to see her first?” He asked. Iroh hesitated. 

“I’d prefer to see her first. I haven't seen her nor her brother in a while, you know.” He smiled. Ukano nodded. 

“Right. Right this way,” He said, leading Iroh through the house. He carefully knocked on the frame of Mai’s room door. “Princess Azula, someone’s here to come and take you home.” Azula perked up from inside the room curiously, getting to her feet and poking her head out of the room. As soon as her eyes landed on Iroh, her expression shifted- a mix of mild disgust (her Uncle  _ was  _ just a tea-loving coward- why should she be pleased to see him?), relief, and excitement. 

“Does this mean Zu-Zu is okay?” She asked quickly, fully exiting the room and looking at Iroh. Iroh hesitated.

“I’m not sure,” He admitted. “Ursa just told me it was time to come and get you.” Azula faltered a bit but quickly bit her tongue from showing her disappointment and worry, nodding sourly instead. She gave Iroh a half-hearted hug to his leg, wiping her hands off on her robe. 

“Well then,” She said plainly, looking back into the room at Mai, who was still reading. “I’ll be seeing you later, Mai! I’ll say hello to Zuko for you,” She teased, to which Mai rolled her eyes.

“Yeah. Have fun with that.” She replied, flipping through her book. Azula looked back at Iroh. She didn’t have much of anything here that she didn’t typically leave here for sleepovers, so she was already ready. Iroh held his hand out for her which she begrudgingly took and followed after him, the two leaving quickly, Iroh thanking them for watching her, and them quickly returning to the palace. 

\-------------------------------------

In the palace, Ursa was pacing back and forth. Her son had been in and out of consciousness for nearly a month now, and she was beyond worried. His wounds had thankfully started to heal with the help of medics, but something else odd was happening. His hair was starting to turn blonde- yellow? It was hard to tell. She didn’t say anything about it, but she did routinely pray to Agni to ask him again for her son to come back to her. She needed Zuko to survive- she wouldn't be able to continue if he didn’t. 

When her brother-in-law walked through the palace doors with her daughter, Ursa quickly went to meet them. She kneeled down to Azula’s height and hugged her, causing Azula to attempt to get away.

“Mooooooom!” She whined, trying to get out of Ursa’s arms. “I’m too old for you to be treating me like a child!” Ursa sighed lightly and let go of Azula, who brushed off her clothes like her mother’s touch was the plague. She crossed her arms and looked around the room they were in. She hesitated before speaking again. “Where’s Zu-Zu?” Ursa hesitated. 

“He’s in his room, but I’m not sure if he’s awake at the mom-” Before Ursa could continue, Azula pushed passed her and disappeared down the hall, “-ent…” Ursa just shook her head slightly before turning to look at Iroh. She smiled. 

“Welcome home, Iroh,” She said. He smiled a little and gave her a hug, to which she returned. “It’s been… a lot with you gone.” She mumbled. “Zuko… he- I… he nearly  _ died,  _ Iroh…” Iroh pulled away and looked at her.

“Why don’t we talk more over a cup of tea and let Azula go and see him? She seems to have missed him.” He suggested. Ursa didn’t realize that she was almost crying. She nodded and wiped the tears that did form.

“That sounds nice,” She said.

\-------------------------------------

Zuko’s eyes blinked open against the sudden harsh lighting, glaring against it. He groaned slightly, feeling a sudden ache through his entire body, straight to the bones. It wasn’t painful, but he felt tired. He could barely convince himself to push himself into a sitting position- if it were up to him, he would have just laid there. But it wasn’t up to him. He could hear a little voice in the back of his head telling him he  _ had  _ to get up. 

He managed to wake up enough to push himself into a sitting position. Almost as soon as he did, he felt a sudden, quick, searing pain through his entire body. It only lasted for a moment, but it was one of the most painful things he had felt. He felt himself getting dizzy, but quickly shook his head and tried to focus again.

“Zu-Zu!” Azula’s voice called. Suddenly, Zuko was being tackled, quickly pushing his hands into his bed to prevent himself from getting shoved down again. 

“Azzie-” He said, coughing suddenly. His voice was hoarse and it hurt him to speak. Azula didn’t seem to care nor notice, as she just squeezed Zuko tighter, hugging him close. 

“I thought you- I was- I’m  _ sorry _ ,” She said, burying her head in her brother’s shoulder. He hesitated before wrapping his own arms around her, hugging her carefully. “I- I didn’t  _ know _ \- I thought he was kidding, Zu- I didn’t… I didn’t know he was actually gonna  _ kill you _ ,” She said, sobbing into his shoulder. 

“It’s-”  _ Cough _ , “It’s not your fault, Az.” Azula’s grip loosened slightly, tears rolling down her face as she cried into his shoulder. She wouldn’t admit it, and she’d refuse to bring it up again, but  _ Agni _ , she was terrified she had lost him. She was terrified she’d never be brought back home, never be able to see what remained of her brother again. She pulled away after a little bit, sniffling and wiping her eyes, staring at him for a moment.

“...You look like a dork with blond hair.” She said finally. Zuko looked confused.

“What? I don’t-” He grabbed at his hair, pulling it in front of his face. It was, in fact, a pale yellow color which had white at the roots that showed more prominently towards the ends. He could have passed out again then and there, but he luckily didn’t. He just… stared at it for a moment before taking a breath and looking back at Azula. “How long have I been out?” He said, swallowing the coughing fit he could feel coming on.

“Oh, not long, y’know, just like, a month,” Azula said, shrugging slightly. “Mom’s with his royal tea-loving cuckooness,” She huffed. “I bet any minute now he’s gonna come waltzing through the doors and kick me out. He just  _ loves  _ you, but he’s never liked me. Same with Mom.” She crossed her arms slightly, looking at the ground. Zuko paused.

“Wait- that’s not true, Azzie-” Before Zuko could finish speaking, he broke out into another coughing fit, causing Azula’s expression to suddenly turn concerned again for a split second before returning to normal. “I don’t- they don’t-” He attempted between coughs, “Dislike- you- or favor me- they love both of us- all the same!” 

“You keep telling yourself that.  _ I’m _ just glad to be home and  _ not  _ the one stuck with hideous hair.” Zuko finished his coughing fit and just rolled his eyes. 

“Help me up, I want to go talk to them.”

“Oh no, I am  _ not  _ getting in trouble for helping you do something you shouldn’t be.”

“Azula, please-”

“No! I’m not doing it!” Azula stuck her tongue out slightly and Zuko glared at her.

“Fine, I’ll do it myself.” He said, awkwardly shuffling towards the edge of the bed and swinging his feet over. He could see the burn scars that covered him, causing a lump to form in his throat, but he said nothing. He pushed himself up and out of the bed, stumbling on his feet. Azula quickly jumped off the bed and pulled his arm over her shoulder.

“If I get in trouble, I am blaming  _ you _ , dum-dum.” She hissed, helping him stand up fully. He was clearly weak on his feet, but he managed. They managed to get to the door and a little down the hall before Ursa came out of nowhere.

“Azula! Zuko is supposed to be resting, you cannot just-” She began, but Zuko quickly stumbled out of Azula’s grasp.

“It’s not her-  _ cough _ \- fault, Mom- I’m the one who asked her to help me.” He said, standing on his own for a moment before crumbling to the ground, quickly being caught by Azula again. “Thanks,” He mumbled. Ursa sighed. 

“I’m glad you’re awake, but… you should stay in bed, Zuko. You need rest.” She said, helping him stand upright and allowing Azula to relax. Zuko shook his head.

“No- I want to talk to Fire Lord Azulon about something-” He said. Azula’s eyes widened a little, but she said nothing. “I want- I don’t deserve to stay here anymore.” 

“Zuko! That’s preposterous- of  _ course  _ you deserve to stay here. This is your home. We’re going back to your room, and I don’t want to hear anything about this wild self-doubt again.” 

“But, Mom-”

“No, Zuko, we’re not arguing about this.” She said, taking him back to his room. She put him back in bed, despite his protests. “You belong in your home, Zuko. You’re not leaving.” 

“But I don’t-” Ursa sighed. 

“Please, Zuko, just get some rest. Your Uncle will be in to see you shortly, don’t try to leave on your own like that again. There’s a matter I need to take care of, and Azula needs to get some rest, too. Knowing her, she didn’t get much sleep when at Mai’s house.” Zuko fell silent, but slowly nodded. Ursa grabbed Azula’s hand carefully and left Zuko’s room, closing the door behind her. 

Zuko stared at the closed door for a moment before pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping himself in his blanket, thinking. How had he been out for nearly a  _ month _ ? He met Yue and Agni just the night before, hadn’t he? There was no way Yue was in the Spirit Realm with him for a month, so how did so much time pass in just his conversation with Agni? He didn’t understand it. But he  _ wanted  _ to understand it. He wanted to find Agni’s mortal form, he wanted to find where Agni was so he could ask more questions. But he knew he couldn’t. 

The door creaked open about fifteen minutes later, and in walked his Uncle Iroh. Iroh carefully closed the door behind him, looking at his nephew, who was curled up on his bed, wrapped in his blanket, staring at the ground. He carefully sat down at the edge of Zuko’s bed.

“Zuko… I’m so sorry I didn’t return sooner,” He said, looking at Zuko. “You didn’t deserve what happened to you, my nephew.” Zuko said nothing. Iroh thought for a moment. “...You’re confused, aren’t you? What was it like- the month you were drifting between consciousness and unconsciousness?” Zuko looked up, letting his blanket fall down and pool around his shoulders.

“I… I met a girl,” He said, caution clear in his tone. “Her name is Yue- was Yue- she had white hair. She said… she said I was being blessed by Agni. We were- we were in this lovely place, it was so vibrant and… lively…” Iroh watched as he spoke, nodding. “She was blessed by Tui when young, I think. She’s like me, in a way- royalty. But… then this figure came and took her away. And after that, another figure appeared- and- and he talked to me. It was Agni. He was so… nice… and warm. He explained what me agreeing to be blessed meant, and I… I felt like I had no choice but to say yes. It felt like it was so short- but… I guess it wasn’t.” 

“I see… you’re very lucky, Zuko- Agni is not an easy spirit to impress and answer your prayers. But… I’m very glad that he did. I don’t know what we would do without you.” Zuko nodded a little, smiling slightly.

“Right…” He said, moving over to sit next to Iroh. He yawned. “I’m really tired… but… I want to talk to Fire Lord Azulon… eventually, at least.” Iroh looked down at Zuko, who was now leaning on you.

“...I’ll talk to your mother about it, my nephew.”

**Author's Note:**

> Spare kudos and comments? Please? And maybe shares? I dunno... I like seeing what people think of my work :D


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